Hello, November.

November.  It's November.  WHEN did this happen?!?

The weeks seem to be flying by at record speed lately.  I can't even begin to fathom where the past year has gone.  It dawned on me the other day that last September, when I headed off to Nova Scotia with Lindsay for a long weekend getaway, I declared myself on a year long "Sabbatical".  I only just realized my "Sabbatical" actually ended over a month ago.  And I don't really feel like I did that much Sabbaticking.  (yes, I just made up a word.)

But now it's over, and there's no time for Sabbaticking now!

I find myself diving head-first into this crazy-busy season, as I'm working on organizing our church's annual Christmas House Tour, and I've also offered to help with the Christmas-themed Facebook Auction our church is holding to help raise funds for a new roof and much-needed repairs to the building.  Add to that the usual hub-bub of planning and prepping for the Christmas season, and I'm already finding myself a little overwhelmed.  There are Christmas teas and bazaars and craft shows and parties booked from now til kingdom come.  There's baking and decorating and shopping to be done.  There's a lot going on in my little world, and while I love this time of year and the excitement it brings, I'm also already feeling the hustle and bustle, and I kinda want to turn it down a notch.

Part of my problem has been this general feeling of being "unwell" the past few weeks.  It has been one thing after another - nothing major, just little frustrating ailments - but this week resulted in a trip to the ER because of an extremely sore throat.  I'm not the kind of person who goes to the hospital for any little ol' thing. I usually have to be forced up there kicking and screaming.  So I'd had this sore throat since last Thursday or Friday, no other cold symptoms, and honestly, I wouldn't even know there was something wrong with my throat until I tried to swallow.  But eating, drinking, even yawning... well, it hurt.  A lot.  My mom kept urging me to get it checked in case it was strep throat or something, but aside from being a little low-energy, no appetite, and having swollen glands, I had nothing else going on but pain when I swallowed, and I figured they'd just tell me it was a virus and send me home.

Then yesterday morning, I realized my tonsils were bleeding.  Yes, you read that right.  Bleeding.  And THAT kind of freaked me out.  It was the kick in the pants to finally get me up to the hospital, and sure enough, I have tonsillitis.  The good part about all of this was that I had the speediest and best service I've ever had at our local hospital.  Part of my dread of going up there is sitting and waiting for hours (and of course, I really didn't think they'd find anything wrong with me, so it felt like it would be a giant waste of time).  But I got to the ER around 8 am, and discovered I was one of only two people there.  I was taken into Triage quickly where they took my vitals and did a strep test, then after a brief sit in the waiting room, I was moved into a room in emergency. I only had to wait about 15 minutes for the doctor.  He told me my strep test came back negative, but after one look in my mouth, he told me my tonsils were infected.  He prescribed me an antibiotic, and instructed me to gargle with salt water from now on after I eat to keep them clean.  I had picked up my prescription at the pharmacy and was back to work by 10 am.  Record time.

I don't know if it's the antibiotic, or the reassurance of seeing a doctor who did not tell me I'm dying, or what, but I feel better today than I have in weeks.  I feel like I finally have a bit of pep in my step again.  I don't have a headache, I don't have hives, my eyes aren't puffy, my tonsils aren't bleeding, and my throat is already feeling better.

Thank the Lord.

Oh, and aside from the sore throat which kind of ruined my candy consumption, Halloween was fun!  We all dressed up at work had a little party in the office.  Then I went to my mom's for the evening to hand out treats there, and there were so many cute costumes.  (Nicole, I promise I took pictures!  Just not uploaded yet!)  We had 31 kids, and I'm so glad my friends all bring their little ones to see us.  It was great!!

So now... on to November.  The holiday season is hurtling at us at a hundred miles an hour.  The hustle and bustle is coming at me, and I don't even know if it's possible to turn it down a notch.

Time to buckle up!!